Improvements demanded at York care home.

The health and care watchdog is demanding improvements at a York care home after being alerted by two sisters who put a secret camera in their father's bedroom.

Carol Brough and her sister Susan Sharpe put a clock on John Elmer's bedside table containing a hidden video camera, amid worries about bruises on his arms and hands.

The footage gathered fed their concerns about aspects of his care, such as a failure to use a hoist to bring him to his feet after falling in his room, which they said should have happened under care protocols.

They complained to health and care watchdog, The Care Quality Commission (CQC), which carried out unannounced inspections of the home and said it 'requires improvement' in four key areas - is the service safe, effective, caring and responsive? The home was rated 'inadequate' in a fifth - is it well led?

The CQC, which has issued a warning notice, said in its report: "This inspection was in part prompted by concerns expressed by the family of a person who lived at Minster Grange Care Home.

"Concerns related to poor moving and handling practices, infection prevention and control issues, staff training and the response to accidents and incidents. We used this information to plan our inspection.

"Although we saw examples of kind and caring interactions between staff and people who used the service, we also observed inconsistencies, where the care and support provided was not effective or dignified.

The CQC said it identified gaps in staff training and concerns relating to the induction and supervision process.

It added: "Accident and incident reports did not always contain sufficient information about how staff had responded following a fall, how the person was supported to get up, or how staff had followed-up any injuries or concerns."

The report added that areas were unclean and showed evidence of ingrained dirt, but relatives of those who used the service told inspectors they felt it was safe.

The CQC said: "We received generally positive feedback about the kind and caring staff. We observed that the care and support provided did not consistently maintain people's privacy and dignity."

Home manager, Alison Redhead, said the CQC's concerns had been accepted and were 'being used to motivate both improvements in the delivery of quality assurance and outcomes for our residents.'

She said: "Details of proposed improvements have been submitted to CQC. These will be supported by additional management resources designed to ensure systems to assess, monitor, and improve quality and safety are embedded at all staff levels."